Gervase Markham

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Radiotherapy Week 2

Here’s what I look like after one week. There’s not too much difference from last week. It’s not sore yet, although I am now “aware” of my neck during the day, if you see what I mean.

I’ve been given various bits of advice about taking care of my skin. One of them was “use an electric razor; don’t wet shave”. (Presumably that’s before the hair stops growing!) So I bought a battery-powered electric shaver. Where have these things been all my life? They are so convenient. I can stop paying the Gillette Tax every few months. :-)

Remember, folks, if you go into a business giving away the razors and selling the blades, watch out for the person who invents the bladeless razor…

You could, of course, just work around the problem: let your beard grow and only allow trained professionals to perform six-monthly maintenance (or more or less frequently). I’m pretty sure this is cheaper in the long run than paying “Gilette Tax”. :-)

I had to go to electric razors almost as soon as I started shaving, because I found that I only got about half a shave out of a blade before it became too dull to cut hair effectively (really: whichever side of my face I did second didn’t get as good a shave), and buying a new blade every day quickly got to be right out of the question, financially. (I am given to understand that not everyone’s beard hair is quite so tough on blades…) Incidentally, the blades on electric razors *do* have to be replaced periodically, just not nearly as often. So yeah, electric razors are great. Besides being convenient, they pay for themselves in savings on blades, unless you want to count a straight razor and sharpening stone as the other option.

As someone who’s used both and prefers to pay the Gilette Tax, I will warn you to be diligent in cleaning that new electric razor — the blades don’t cut as well when they’re coated with stubble and dead skin. As Jonadab said, the blades (and screen) need to be replaced once in a while as well. I’ll also second going with AC over batteries for the reason provided.

I personally found that I get a better shave with a regular razor than with an electric, but I will admit that was about 7 years ago so the electrics may have improved. But for people with thicker/fuller beards I can see where they’d be preferable.